In just a span of a few short years, river cruise options have expanded greatly in Europe and other parts of the world. With several different cruise lines, dozens of itineraries and even varying levels of luxury, choosing the right river cruise has become quite the challenge. Engaging a qualified River Cruise Travel Advisor for the planning of your trip will help ensure that your travel time and investment is perfectly paired to your needs.

Long known for upscale tours on land, New England-based Tauck in recent years has been carving out a position as a leader in high-end river cruising with more intimate, exclusive and all-inclusive voyages than those offered by most other lines and by tapping its long-established connections with top local guides, attractions and restaurants in designing unusual cruise itineraries.

The Tauck river cruise experience revolves around four cornerstones: uncommon access on included shore excursions blending in-depth sightseeing with Tauck Exclusives; all-inclusive value, with virtually every expense included in one upfront price; personalized cruising based on over the top service and the intimate, club-like atmosphere of their custom-designed riverboats.

Tauck River Cruises feature spacious, comfortable cabins and suites; personalized service rivaling that of a premium hotel; fine European-style shipboard dining with a choice of dining venues; and up to four times the number of suites as other European lines.

This spring, Tauck launched two new Inspiration-class ships – “Grace” on the Rhine and “Joy” on the Danube. Each offers 67 accommodations, including 22 sumptuous 300-square-foot suites. Each of the suites is furnished with two French balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows, a pull-out couch, roomy walk-in closets with built-in drawers, and a spacious bathroom with rain shower.

For those seeking new and different, Grace sails a new 10-day “Rhine, Swiss Alps & Amsterdam” program with a two-night stay at the five-star Bellevue Palace in Bern and either a Bern walking tour or full-day Bernese Alps excursion to Europe’s highest railway station, the Jungfraujoch. Guests also tour Lucerne’s Old Town before boarding in Basel, Switzerland.

Tauck also has new exclusive dining experiences ashore, including one at Schloss Ehreshoven, a 14th-century castle and grand Baroque Manor house, in Engelskirchen, Germany. Normally closed to the public, it will host guests on the “Rhine, Swiss Alps & Amsterdam” and “Romantic Rhine” itineraries for a cocktail reception, dinner and live music. At the opulent Chateau Bizy in Vernon, France, guests on Tauck’s “Cruising the Seine plus Versailles, Paris & London” itinerary will stroll the estate and garden, sip bubbly at a champagne reception and dine with musical entertainment. Luxury cruisers will have “bragging rights” too as the chateau’s former owners include King Louis XV and its current owners are Napoleon’s descendants.

Tauck guests on the “Rhine & Moselle” itinerary will journey to Schloss Johannisberg, Geisenheim, Germany; it’s a former Benedictine monastery, palace and the first Riesling estate. Cruisers will tour a historic wine cellar, attend a reception, dine on a gourmet meal with local wines and listen to musical entertainment.